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Question:

Is it normal for black hair to all break off in an area?

Answer:

Q: My daughter is adopted. I’m white and she’s black. She has a place in her hair that just breaks off. People have told me this is normal for black hair to break off in certain areas. Is this really normal?
A: No, this is not normal. Breakage equals damage. Anytime there is damage, it means something is destroying or wearing away the hair to the point that it falls apart. How the hair is breaking is a really good clue… Now, if your daughter had even breakage all over her hair, then I’d say all her hair is damaged. If chemicals were used, her hair will be damaged until the hair damaged by the chemicals has grown out/ bet cut off. Or if her hair is being brushed or combed when dry, handled roughly, or towel dried, then the solution is to only comb her hair when wet and with lots of a good slippery combing conditioner (many combing conditioners are recommended on the site).
However, since the damage is just in one spot, that means something is happening to this one spot that’s wearing down the hair and causing it to break. It will be time for some detective work to pinpoint what is going on. If her hair was already damaged, and she sleeps on one side more than the other, this could cause damage to really show up in this one spot. Or if this spot gets more tangled, and is combed roughly more than the rest of her hair, that could cause breakage. If a rubber band is being used to pull back her hair, this would also cause damage and breakage in the spot the rubber band is twisted into the hair. Plastic barrettes, if clipped really tightly in her hair (with a lot of hair mashed inside the clip) would cause damage in any spot the barrette(s) were used. There could be a winter hat she’s wearing that’s rubbing on a particular spot that may have been weakened with other damage.
The first thing is to make sure her hair is healthy overall. This will be a great step to increasing its strength. This means no relaxers, no heated tools, no dry brushing, no cornrows (these are most always combed out dry, curls are pulled apart roughly and in dry hair in order to put them in, and the ends are often held together with tight barrettes or rubber bands in the curliest, most fragile part of the hair), tight braids, and care when using barrettes. No towel drying her hair ever. No brushing or combing dry hair ever.
Then watch that spot, see what’s happening there that isn’t happening in other spots, or may be happening more there than anywhere else.
To summarize (as I tend to go on a bit sometimes), breakage is not normal. It’s always a sign that something is hurting our hair. But because it’s in one spot, that should make it easier to narrow down what’s causing it.